England's Delon Armitage braced for rugby challenge

Armitage was in Canary Wharf yesterday to promote the Leinster game, which is being played at Twickenham, and the 26-year-old is looking forward to it.

He said: "Playing Leinster, last year's champions, at Twickenham will be brilliant. We beat them over there in the first game, so they will want payback now and they'll be coming with guns blazing. We need to be ready for that and we're excited.

"Obviously we've got a big game this weekend first against Llanelli. We need to win that game first and foremost and then the Leinster one will be the decider.

"Llanelli are a strong team but they are pretty much out of it now. Leinster beat them and we're hoping we can win at Llanelli to set up the decider, which will be a massive game."

Irish are playing at Twickenham because their usual home, Reading's Madejski Stadium, will be hosting FA Cup football.

It will mean a bigger than normal crowd is needed to fill the ground, hence Armitage's Wharf appearance alongside club and country team-mates Nick Kennedy and Paul Hodgson.

But Armitage is delighted to have an extra chance to play at HQ.

He said: "It's probably more special playing for your country, but even for your club it's massive. Hopefully we can get a good crowd in there. Twickenham is always special, always brilliant.

"For the London Irish kids who haven't played there, because we are quite a young squad, it's going to be a great day for them."

"We want it to feel like a home ground. For me it obviously feels like that from playing for England.

"It's going to be tough because we're moving away from Reading, to play there will be quite hard. For us, we have to win that game, whether it's at Twickenham or Reading, and we'll be working hard and do everything, analyze them as much as possible before the game."

Armitage should be back at the stadium on February 6 to face Wales, after being named in Martin Johnson's squad this week.

He missed the first half of the season with a shoulder injury but he's determined to play his part in making England unbeatable on home turf after a disappointing autumn international series, which included defeats by Australia and New Zealand.

He said: "We have to start making Twickenham a fortress, and hopefully we can start that in the Six Nations.

"There's no better way to start than against Wales. It's going to be tough because they were unlucky last year.

"They had a great team and were unfortunate to miss out to Ireland. We know how tough it's going to be but it's at Twickenham and we're going to be ready."

The Wharf has teamed up with London Irish to offer two lucky readers the chance to win a pair of tickets each to the big game. To enter click here.

London Irish v Leinster at Twickenham is on Saturday, January 23, kicking off at 6pm. For tickets visit ticketmaster.com or call 0844 847 2492.